The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-05-31


| companies and Knights of Pythias appeared. All
tae drand Army posts in the city were repre-
senteo, and taeir banners together with num-
DER or American flags, were placed upon the
| platform.
The ceremonies opened with prayer by the
| venerable Love Fl. Jamison. whose flowing hair
! and beard are both white He spoke
with great feeling. and the words of his prayer.
for his voice is of singular beauty clear and PEN
| etrating, were heard all over the great audience
After music by the City Band. Maj. w. Ell.
Calkins, the orator Of the day, came forward
and said:
History repeats itself. It may be that at each
repetition few steps in advance are taken of
what had happened in the decades and centuries
past, hut substantially the same occurrences are
repeated by the people of to-day that took place
| In The ages gore by. More tnan 2, 900 years ago
| Percies, the great Greek orator and Statesman,
stood at the gates of Athens and delivered me-
mortal address over tho dead heroes of that city
who had fallen in battle fighting the enemies of
their country That memorable address has
been preserved and handed down to us, and the
surprising element in it is that it breathes the
same strain of patriotism which we, his remote
| posterlty. are uttering to-day. It would seem
from this that in all ages and all times the mill
tary heroes of all countries have been enshrined
| IN the hearts of their >countrymen. The higher
| that civilization has advanced tho more intense
AND patriotic seems to be the feeling with which
| the cead OF the battle fields are hold in estima-
ton. ton, The personal liberty known to the
GreeK and roman was but the dream
| of the American republic. Their schol-
ars and philosophers imperfectly
what the American people realize
| fact. Being without the benefits of high state
of Christian civilization they lacked the basis
of stability-the certain foundation of durable
| government 1t is not strange. therefore. that
they passed away with the dream of self govern
mcnt unrealized. AS a nation we are blessed
with the realization of their imperfect attempts;
for lying at the foundation of our government
Is our Christian civilization and our freeschool
| system. Take either of these and
ernment would topple, as did the governments
erected by those people This leads me to a con-
slderatlon of the civilizations which existed in
this Republic before the war. That of the South
recognized. it is true, Christian religion but
that idea was surrounded and finally submerged
beneath the practice of human slavery; while in
the North there was added to the idea of Chris
ton civilization that of free education These
theories between the North and SonIh were an
tagonistic, and, as a natural result from two
antagonistic practices internecine war the
result Instead of the schoolhouse in the South
thereSwas erected the slave-pen; instead of the
diffusion of knowledge they made it a crime to
teach the slave TO read the Bible; instead of Civ
ing all people chance in the of life
they separated husband and wife and tore the
infant from the arms of the mother and sold
them into different and distant sections of the
country; instead of practicng the morals of
Christianity, chastity was purchased for a price
and the qualification of lust the only bounds
which limited brutal ferocity: instead of the
punishment for murder, deeds of cruelty against
the black man was bounded only by the temuer
and brutal instincts of the overseer. The
structure of society was arranged by upper
and lower strata, without the intermediate or
connecting link which binds all communities to-
gether. The white man who was poor and de-
pendent vas regarded even lower than the slave
of the rich ana opulent His children
reared in ignorance and stupidity, and the lux
uries of life were strangers to him. much more
than they were to the colored slave who the
favored body servant OF tbs rich and the power
ful. Laws we're made to protect the governing
classes, and to grind and Cypress the INDECENT
and slave.
two nf eiy iyafin nyic ad in
the Republic for ninety years, and it Isl not
strange that the irrcpressible conflict came at
last. The aristocracy of the South became bold
ard aggressive and determined to plant their
peculiar he ions firmly in the Constitution of
the country and make them the rule, and
ts.S oh,i.eraie the civilization OF the Northern
States
For this purpose, without excuse palliation
the leaders of Southern society demanded the
rgh. to dissolve the Union and destroy the gov
ernment under the specious pretexts of States
sovereignty and States rights 1t primarily
for the preservation of the Nation as a unit and,
secondarily, for the establishment of tho princ-
pie of individual freedom, that tho recent war
between the States was waged After
quarter of century has passed, and are
now enabled to take a calm retrospective view
of the times and incidents of the war. it seems
strange that the valor of army enabled
to succeed the conflict of opinion and
armies, such existed at that time. In the
days that to future generations will
wonder more than we how it possible for
the armies of the Union to succeed under this
most distressing and wicked combination
cannot now enter into a discussion of the
various reasons why our armies prevailed. but
may be permitted to allude to the personnel of
the two armies. and in doing you may find
of the reasons why it was impossible for the
South to succeed In the rank and file of the
Southern army were found the poor people. who
had been oppressed by the rich and opulent, and
for whom there was chance in the future
cept by breaking down the barriers of the slave
aristocracy. These people. it is true, were led
by the aggressive and chivalrous men of the
South; while in the North there was no caste.
either at home or in the army, OF merit It
ofttimes happened that the private soldier in the
Northern army was wealthier than his entire
company officers At home his standing
equal and ofttimes superior to that of the field
the staff of his regiment. while, as a rule. there
entire absence of these conditions in the
Southern army The consequence was that in
the earlier period of an engagement or battle
the Soutnern army was more lmpetuous and
fought with briiliancy and dash unexamped
in the battles of the. world. Once their
officers wounded or killed, impetuosity and dash
correspondngly decreased until it became
trite saying with that although might be
driven in the morning the evening would insure
victory. Our armies made mp of
sturdy. honest. intelligent and educated people
They came from the farm, the workshop and
the professions, and Injured to toll, and
had been taught that labor was honorable,
while the armies of the South made up oe
the densely stupid and ignorant but commanded
by the most brilliant, daring and chivalrous men
of the world. When officers were wounded
or killed and borne from the battle field, their
places were taken by men, often from the ranks,
aS cOnp0b6nL 10 ieau as tnOSe tnab Ha0 Oeon put
hors de combat But when the Southern officers
were killed or wounded, or taken from the field,
there were left in the rank and file to sup
ply their places This the difference in the
fighting qualities of the two armies. 1t was
seen almost every battle field, and has passed
into history of the important incidents
of that heroic struggle. General Grant, in
speaking of it in his memoirs. says ''it
Southern dash against Northern pluck" This
sentence sums up the whole situation.
This quality magnificent tribute to
free schools ard free education. Education and
intelligence will tell in every vocation, even |
that of the bloody war. It was this Intelligence |
which, in the latter years of the war made every
veteran soldier a competent commander. He |
may not have been educated in the science of |
engineering. but put him the skirmish line |
and he would select the best available ground for
his situation and would throw up around him a |